Single-package-vending machine



H. R. MlTCHELL SINGLE PACKAGE VENDING MACHINE March 6, 1928.

' Filed July 14. 1923 Z a m I 6 W! 1L 1 5 1 2 4 1 0 z 4 6 5 5 r A a v m-Pl/(d v Harry R. Mitchell Nf-mifi Patented Mar. 6, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT. or ice.-

HARRY a. MITCHELL, oTsEA TLE, WASHINGTON, ass-lemon To MITCHELL TRonUcTsCOMPANY, 01? SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, A, CORPORATION OF WAsHINGTON.

smern-raoxnen vnnnrne MACHINE.

Application filed July 14,

My invention relates to an improvement in vending machlnes such as thatshown in my Patent No. 1,473,828, and which is intended for vending asingle package. as, for 6 instance, a package of chewinggum.

Many such vending machines must be employed to secure a large volume ofsales, and consequently they must be cheap to man-- ufacture and theymust be simple. It is the particular object of my present invention tosimplify my former device and to make it cheaper to manufacture, andalso to refine it and add details which will improve the operation ofthe device. In addition to the general simplification of the device, itis specifically my object,-

first, to provide means controlled by the insertion or delivery of thepackage from the machine to clear or obstruct the coin.

chute so that after delivery of a package another coin may not beinserted; second, to provide a dog which will prevent unauthorizedremoval of a coin after it has been inserted into the coin chute; andthird, to provide simple and convenient means which are easilyaccessible for mounting or dismounting the casing from its support andfor locking it in place thereon orunlock-- ing it.

My invention comprises those novel parts and combinations thereof whichare shown inthe accompanying drawings, described in the specification,and particularly defined by the claim terminating the same. 7 In theaccompanying drawings I have shown my invention in the form which is nowpreferred by me. Figure 1 is an elevation of the casing and themechanism mounted therein,taken from the rear and with thesupportingplate .removed.

Figure 2 line 22 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a section looking toward the rear and approximately on theline of the coin chute.

Figure 4 is a section looking toward the rear and through the packagereceiving chamber.

As in my former device, a casing 1 having a coin slot 10 in its upperside and a delivery opening 11 in its bottom side is removably supportedupon a plate 12. As a convenient and cheap means of supporting thecasing from the plate, and withal one 1923. Serial No. 651,670.

which is accessible to the proper party and yet ordinarily inaccessible,I have provided. inwardly and downwardly directed fingers 13 upon thesupporting plate 12, these engaging in upwardly and outwardly directedslots l in the upper corner of the casing 1. A'ilange 15 is turned.upwardly from the inside bottoincorner of the casing'l and a locking cam16, rotatable in the plate '12, is adapted to engage the flange 15 afterthe fingers 13 have been'engaged-in the slots 14. This firmly holds thecasingto the plate.- The cam 16 may be controlled-'bya non circularhead-17'which is engageable by'aj suitable tool, as a socket wrench,insertible through the delivery opening 11. l

Within the casing l-is-provided a package-receiving chamber 20terminating in a. delivery chute 21. V A gate 2, pivoted in the casing,serves to separate the chamber 20 from the chute 21. A dog 3,pivoted-inthe casing at 30, engages a complemental dog 23upoi1 the gate2 to retain the gate in closed position when a-package is inserted. Aspring 31 maintains the dogs 3 and 23 in engagement. 1 1 I v 7 Thespring 31 also engages a coin chute 4 which is pivoted in the casing 1at 41 and which is provided with anend 40-which projects from the sideof the casing land which is pressed to operate the coincontrolmechanism. The coin-controlled mechanism is similar to that shownin my patent referred to above, and consists of the chute 1 which has astop 12 arranged to stop a coin O of the proper size opposite anotch43in theside of the'chute 1. Smaller coinspass at 4.0. A release 34on the same lever, 33 1 which carries the dog 3 will enter the notch: v43 when the end 10 of the coin "chute is 1s a section approxlmatel'y' onpressed inward,providedno coin is lodged in the coin chute. If a coin islodged there'- in, this coin is so positioned by the stop 42 that itwill engage the release 34 to disengage the dogs 3 and 23, thuspermitting the gate 2 to drop by gravity. In this respect also mypresent device is similar to that shown in the co-pending applicationreferred to.

Adjacent the upper end of the coin chute l I have pivoted a lever 5, oneend 51 of which forms a dogprojecting into the path of a coin enteringthe chute, to be engaged and depressed thereby to permit the coin topass.

The other end of the lever 5 is provided with a weighted stop lug 52which normally maintains the dog 51 projected into the path of a coinentering the chute. The lug engages the side of the chute & to preventupward movement of the dog 51 beyond its normal position. This providesa simple gravity-controlled dog which can be depressed by a coinentering the chute, but which will not permit the coin to be pushedupward past it. Thus it retains in the chute any coin which has beendropped thereinto and which has passed beyond the dog 51. Figure 3illustrates the operation of this dog, the solid line position of thecoin C illustrating a coin which can not be passed upward beyond the dog51, and the dot-and-dash line position of the coin and dog representingthat which would be assumed as a coin is entering the chute. I- haveshown also a stop on the chute 4 which is engaged by the lug 52 as thisis raised by the passage of a coin. The purpose of the stop 45 is toprevent excessive movement of the weighted lug 52 to throw it past itsown side of the central pivot of the lever 5. If it were permitted topass to the opposite side of the pivotthe dog 51 would be thrown out ofrather than into the chute.

Adjacent the upper end of the chamber 201 have pivoted a vane 6. Thisvane normally lies without the chamber 20 but lies against the side of apackage which is positioned therein and supported on the gate 2. Thisvaneis provided with a finger 61 which projects toward the coin chute t.Normally when the vane 6 is held raised by a package in the manner justdescribed, the finger 61 clears the coin chute. However, when a packageis delivered from the chamber .20 by the dropping of the gate 2 the vane(5 drops by gravity, and the finger 61, forming a part thereof, ispermitted to swing through the arcuate slot 46 to a position,

best shown in Figure 4, where it blocks the coin chute 4. This linger(31 l'ies near the upper side of the casing and when in the positionshown in Figure at prevents the insertion of a coin into the chute i tosuch a distance that it may not be withdrawn. It will be evident thatthe vane 6 swings down whenever the package is delivered from themachine and in so doing swings down the finger 61 into position toprevent the insertion of an additional coin. The careless user of thebox is thereby prevented from losing a coin by inserting it into anempty box. It will be noted that the device is gravity-controlled andactuated throughout, as far as possible. It is intended to standvertically, so that the package will drop from it by gravity. The gate 2swings out of the way by gravity when released. The coin is positionedfor actuation by gravity, and a smaller coin is rejected solely bygravity. Entrance of a second coin is prevented by the gravity-actuatedvane (3, and removal of the purchasing coin is prevented by thegravity-controlled dog .31. It follows that to reset the machine, and toextract the coin, it is only necessary to remove and invert the casingl. Thereupon the coin drops, and as the dog 51. drops by gravity to thedotand-dash line position of Figure 3, the coin pas es the dog and fallsfrom the coin slot 10. The vane 6 likewise falls into a vertical plane,a new package drops into the chamber 20, and the gate 2 is thenpermitted to drop into position, a slight pressure thereon through thedelivery chute 21 forcing back the dog 3 to permit the gate to pass, andthe dog then engaging the gate to lock it. The casing is then reinvertedand replaced upon the plate 12.

Vt hat I claim as my invention is:

A single package vending machine comprising, in combination, a casing.including a package-receiving chamber, coin-controlled means, includinga coin chulc, for retaining the package in said chamber, a pivoted vanemounted adjacent the upper end of said chamber to move into or out ofthe same, said vane being directly cngageablc by a package within thechamber to be moved thereby out of the chamber. and movable thercinto bygravity as the package leaves the chamber, and a finger projecting fromthe free end of said vane into the coin chute and movable with said vancto olistruct the coin chute or to leave the same unobstructed, as thevane moves into or from said chamber, respectively.

Signed at Seattle, King County. ashington, this 23rd day of June, 1921).

HARRY R. MITCHELL.

